Angst filled missives on the fate of American Democracy -- half-hearted or completely botched attempts at humor and constant, unadulterated whining!

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

Attaturk, is No Economist
And my lack of interest in economics compounds monthly.
But I imagine that if I was the Preznit I would want the economy to be solid in an election year (or a re-appointment year as the case may be). I would imagine I wouldn't want consumer sales to start going down.
So this cannot be good news for Chimpy McTaxCut:

U.S. retail sales slumped in June, dropping 1.1 percent on lower auto sales, the Commerce Department estimated Wednesday.
It was the biggest decline in 16 months. Retail sales thus fell in two of the three months making up in the second quarter. Read the full release.
Excluding a 4.3 percent drop in auto sales, retail sales fell 0.2 percent in June, matching April's decline.
Economists had been expecting overall sales to fall 0.7 percent, with ex-autos anticipated to rise 0.2 percent, according to a CBS MarketWatch survey. See Economic Calendar.